You made it through college. Congratulations! Now you've just got to repay that student loan. Photo by Muhammad Rizwan on Unsplash More than 40 million former college students who have federal student loans must soon start repaying that debt. The financial obligation has been on hold since March 2020 as a way to help borrowers who encountered financial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. During these three and half years, the borrowers didn't have to pay their student loans. But that changes next month. The first post-pause payment is due in October, which starts in just a few days. If you... Read more →
Unsplash+ in collaboration with Philip Oroni Get ready fellow taxpayers. Our robot tax overlords are here. Or rather, getting more here. The Internal Revenue Service began using artificial intelligence (AI) bots last year to help taxpayers complete some tax tasks, such as setting up a payment plan. Today, the agency announced that it is expanding its use of chatbots to help answer some tax notice questions. Specifically, the technology should help quickly answer basic questions for people who get notices about possibly underreporting their taxes. Those are CP2000, CP2501, and CP3219A mailings that tell taxpayers the information the IRS received... Read more →
Hurricane Lee in the Atlantic on Sept. 11, 2023, before heading north. Hurricane Lee was a strange, scary storm. It formed off the coast of Africa and rapidly intensified into a large category 5 hurricane. But instead of heading for the lower U.S. east coast as is typical this time of year, it turned northward. That track sent Lee toward New England, where rotated offshore before making official landfall Sept. 17 in Nova Scotia, Canada, as a strong extratropical cyclone. Don't be deceived by meteorologists' extratropical classification. Lee still did damage to the already water-logged region. That's why the Federal... Read more →
Photo by Nikola Knezevic on Unsplash The famous saying about all politics being local also applies to taxes, most notably property taxes. Property taxes are locally levied, usually by counties (or parishes if you're in Louisiana), meaning they vary widely across, and within, the 50 states. Local jurisdictions set the tax rate, but if real estate values increase, even a relatively low rate can mean a big tax bill on your home. Because of the complicated considerations involved in calculation property taxes, the Tax Foundation's latest analysis took a two-pronged approach. The Washington, D.C.-based tax policy nonprofit looked at median... Read more →
Beyoncé on the Renaissance World Tour at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on June 1, 2023, (Photo by Raph_PH - BeyonceSpurs010623) I love music. I just ordered two CDs last week. That last retail admission should tip you off that my prime concert-going days are behind me. In one way, I'm glad. The cost to see my favorite musicians perform back in my day was reasonable, even then. Today's more youthful fans, however, are shelling out big bucks to attend concerts. Marketplace economics are part of the calculation. And emotion is part of the market. So scalpers, whose targets are... Read more →
The sentencing of the two Fort Myers businessmen this week comes as the Internal Revenue Service ramps up its compliance efforts on flow-through entities. Photo by Raze Solar on Unsplash Reliable contractors are worth a fortune in Florida. The Sunshine State has its share of overcast and worse days, as made disastrously clear by major Hurricanes Ian in 2022 and Idalia this fall. That's why it's so discouraging when home repair experts break bad. Like a pair of roofing contractors who cheated the Internal Revenue Service out of more than $1 million. And more companies like theirs, a pass-through entity,... Read more →
Updated Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year, is fast approaching. What's not moving quickly are congressional efforts to keep the U.S. government open. The conventional wisdom is that we'll get a continuing resolution through October to give lawmakers, primarily the House that's dealing with Republican in-fighting, time to come up with a deal that the Senate will sign off on, too. Some agencies, critical to millions of Americans, won't be affected. Notably, Social Security benefits will continue to go out, and Medicare and Medicaid programs will remain... Read more →
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash After two years of decline, thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic, marriages in the United States have returned to pre-COVID levels, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's recently released 2022 American Community Survey (ACS). Even better for romantics, a major jewelry company is predicting a spike in engagements as more of us return to pre-pandemic lifestyles, including dating…and more. If you're planning nuptials, or already have said, "I do," congratulations. Now here are eight tax tasks you need to take care of, after the honeymoon, of course. 1. Make sure everyone knows your... Read more →
Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images The U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) shows that family-related reasons were a driver for more than a quarter, or 26.5 percent, of households between 2021 and 2022. Some of the moving vans were called to combine or create new family abodes as people who had put off wedding plans during the COVID-19 pandemic finally said "I do." In other cases, it was couples splitting their partnership and possessions, possibly due to too much time together during coronavirus lockdowns. There are tax implications when marriages begin and... Read more →
Hunter Biden hugging his father Joe and stepmother Jill after the elder Biden was sworn in as President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2021. (Photo by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff via Wikimedia Commons) One of the 10 guarantees in the Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Bill of Rights is the right to privacy. Hunter Biden says the tax agency failed to follow its rule, and has filed a federal lawsuit against the IRS alleging that it illegally disclosed information about his taxes. The core of Biden's legal action is the public testimony of two IRS agents.... Read more →
Your next "welcome to your new job" handshake could be at the Internal Revenue Service. (Photo: Unsplash+ in collaboration with Ahmet Kurt) A key part of the Internal Revenue Service's plan to increase taxpayer compliance is personnel. It takes people to track down and confirm they, or their businesses, owe taxes. So the IRS is looking to hire 3,700 employees nationwide. Specifically, the agency is seeking people, preferably experienced accountants, to serve as revenue agents. Revenue agent special skills: IRS revenue agents, known officially as Internal Revenue Agents, serve as technical experts in examinations of significant and complicated tax compliance... Read more →
Photo by Max Burchill on Unsplash To paraphrase a gazillion social media posts, exploitative people are why we can't have needed tax breaks. OK, Congress plays a big part. And the Internal Revenue Service too often steps on its own tax toes. But in many cases, unscrupulous people mess things up for the rest of us who are just trying to comply with tax laws and get a little bit of legitimate tax relief along the way. That's what happened with the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). This refundable tax credit was created by lawmakers to help businesses that were struggling... Read more →
The scheme involved false W-9 information, which meant the payor wasn't able to provide the owner of the artificial turf company, or the Internal Revenue Service, with the proper third-party report, allowing the man to evade nearly a million in federal tax. Until tax investigators caught up to him. Artificial grass has been dividing sports fans and players since its installation in Houston's iconic Astrodome in 1966. But fake grass is gaining ground among residential and smaller commercial customers. The market is forecast to reach $7 billion by 2025, as we deal with hotter temperatures, drought, and water sources literally... Read more →
The third estimated tax payment deadline is tomorrow, Sept. 15. But this year, some usual 1040-ES filers in 10 states get more time. Don't be jealous. Their apparent tax good fortune is due to unfortunate circumstances. These individuals and business owners live in parts of Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Vermont that have been declared major disaster areas. Because Mother Nature can be fickle, some states endured her wrath multiple times, meaning different disaster areas with different deadlines. I've listed the affected areas below where taxpayers have more time to make their third estimated... Read more →
Screenshot from Atlanta's 11Alive report via YouTube on Tropical Storm Idalia's impact on Southeast Georgia. It took a while longer than expected, but southeast Georgia residents who were in the path of Hurricane-turned-Tropical-Storm Idalia finally get the same relief as their neighbors. The Internal Revenue Service announced today that individuals and businesses in 28 of the Peach State's counties qualify for special tax consideration, including a new Feb. 15, 2024, deadline for filing and paying certain taxes. The delayed tax due date, which matches the one granted Florida and South Carolina taxpayers, applies to deadlines that occurred from Aug. 30,... Read more →
Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images Congress apparently is still trying to hash out a tax bill. Republican leaders have created a measure, but it's facing not only Democratic opposition, but also pushback from some of its own members. The hangup within the GOP is the $10,000 limit on tax deductible state and local taxes. Democrats want any tax legislation to include an expansion of the Child Tax Credit, or CTC, that follows the increases allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CTC is one of the most popular federal tax breaks around. The family-friendly tax break has been in the... Read more →
The Sept. 15 deadline for paying the third installment of 2023's estimated taxes is just days away. Make sure you meet it. Also make sure you pay the correct amount. If when all is said and filed at tax time, you owe the U.S. Treasury $1,000 or more, you could face a penalty for underpaying your taxes. And where that taxable money was from sources not subject to withholding, you also could face late-payment fines for not remitting it during the proper estimated tax quarters. Estimated tax safe harbors: Most of us who must pay estimated taxes calculate that expected... Read more →
Source: AmeriCorps Tomorrow, Sept. 11, is Patriot Day. It's not an official, formal federal holiday. But it was declared, by a joint resolution of Congress in 2009, as the day each year for remembering those who died or were injured during the terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001. On the annual National Day of Service and Remembrance on Monday, Americans across the country will follow the urging of President Joe Biden's in his proclamation to participate in community service in honor of those our nation lost. You can find opportunities to volunteer... Read more →